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| 2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992 |

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MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD

SUBJECT: Meeting with AMBANG-1

1. I met with AMBANG-1 on 27 July 1963 in Miami.
The following is a resume of the business transacted at that
meeting.

a. Request for High Explosives

AMBANG-]) stated that in view of my outline
of strategic targets inside Cuba during our last meeting which
took place in Washington on 2) June 1963, he had decided to
attempt a sabotage operat on against the Havana power plant,
He informed me that he has a man employed in the power plant
in Havana who is capable of launching thie operation. In this
connection AMBANG-! asked if we coutd make available twenty
pounds of high explosives as well as six to eight thermite grenades.
AMBANG-1 asked if it were poscible to have the twenty pounds
broken into smaller lots. In our further discussion of this subject,
it became apparent that A-1 would be willing to receive the materiel
either in San Juan or inside Cuba, but that he definitely. preferred
the latter if this were possible. Like in mést other instances during
our conversation, I advised AMBANG-] that I would need to discuss
this matter with my superiors but that J could tentatively assure.
him of our ability and willingness to furnish the high explosives in
San Juan and possibly inside Cuba, At this point I asked AMBANG-1

‘if he could foresee the need for matericl of this type inside Cuba.

I told him that J asked this question because if his group were
prepared now or in the near future for meaningful sabotage action
inside Cuba it was conceivable that we could begin the caching of
needed materiel inside Cuba. AMBANG-1 assured me that they


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were in a position to sabotage the electrical plant in Havana. (I

did not ask, neither did he specify which plant.) He did not promise
immediate action, adding that he wanted to assure himself of the
details of the planned operation and the safety-odds of the man
involved. A-] then indicated that he would certainly be in a~
position to accomplish this mission and others in the future and
would be most grateful for any materiel we could put in place.

I left the matter with him with the understanding that if it were

possible we would proceed with caching the high explosives in

the general area of Havana, He assured me of their capability
to service and retrieve the cache.

b. Request for Contact in Guantanamo

AMBANG-1 asked me if it would be possible for ue
to arrange some means for Rogelio Cisneros to visit Guatanamo
and talk to his brother who is an employee of the Naval Base and
another agent of theirs likewise employed there. The reason A-l
gave for the request was that they wished to inform Ramon Cisneros
Diaz of the JURE plans to begin the implementation of their plan
of resistance and overthrow of the Castro Regime. JI advised A-1
that whereas J would lock into this matter as I could tentatively
tell him that the chances of accomplishing this were remote,

c. AMBANG-) Political Plans

AMBANG-1 informed me that he was planning at
this time to be in New York on or about 10 August and that following
this trip he intended to go to Santo Domingo and Caracas, In Santo
Domingo he hoped te set up a smal) base for operations such as a
small] house on a farm near the shore which could be used for boat
travel to Cuba. Once he had made such arrangements he intended
to talk to President Juan Bosch telling him of the plan and asking
his acquiescence if not support. AMBANG-1 intends to tell Bosch
that he will not embarrass him and will go about his business in a
secure and professional manner adding that if he should embarrass
Bosch, the latter could disclaim him and ‘A-! would desist from
any further activity there. :

So far as AMBANG-]'s trip to Caracas is concerned, that
will be principally devoted to orienting the JURE representation

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in that city. In addition, AMBANG-1 will attempt to see and talk
to Venezuelan Government officials including President Betancourt.

Some time after this trip AMBANG-] intends to visit
Central America principally Costa Rica and if he can procure a
visa, Mexico, The purpose of all his travel is the raising of funds,
the general tightening of his organization and discussions neccessary
to coordinate their efforts.

d. Isolation of Cuba.

AMBANG-1 made it exceedingly clear that the
lifeline to his assets inside Cuba had been severely restricted
when PAA flights were suspended. Nothing could suit AMBANG-}
more than to have these flights resumed. AMBANG-1's obviously
great interest in the resumption of these flights was the most eloquent
statement yet of his belief that he has a network, or that he can
revive a network within Cuba. At least at this stage of JURE
operations, AMBANG-1 does not appear to consider the infiltration
of manpower as necessary.

AMBANG-I stated that the use of flights from Spain and
Mexico to Cuba was difficult and costly whereas the Miami-Havana
run had been most useful in maintaining contact within Cuba, It |
was AMBANG-I's opinion that the resumption of PAA flights would
be an operational booém to JURE and that whereas he could see
Castro making some, political capital out of the flights, he believed
that some appropriate statement such as "there is no political
significance but only’ a humanitarian and compassionate reason for
the reestablishment of this link," would be sufficient to negate any

political advantage by Castro.

e. AMBANG-1 Phasing Out of his Employment

AMBANG-1 gave me to believe that he is closing shop
and giving up his position with the Corporacion de Renovacion Urbana:
y Viviendas where he is employed as an engineer in charge. of: building
pre-cast concrete houses, AMBANG-! stated that during the past
week Governor Munoz Marin gave final authority for.the erection
of a plant to produce these houses in Puerto Rica. AMBANG-1 is

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torn with the thought of leaving this project which he believes
will be most successful, and which would assure his livelhood,
but he knows that he must devote himself to the fight against
Castro, It is obvious to me that AMBANG-1 will within the next
two months phase out of this employment to devote full time to
the liberation of Cuba, .

1
{. A JURE Radio Link

AMBANG-] asked me if J] would be able to assist
him in the establishment of a San Juan-Caracas-Miami radio link.
He explained that the JURE has spent a great deal of money on
telephonic communications between these points and were most
anxious to set up a means of radio communication in order to
economize. I guess that AMBANG-! could tell from my reaction
that I was not too sympathetic to his request for he withdrew it
almost as soon as he had made it. He went on to say that this
was a problem which they could overcome and I presume that he
will seek to establish such radio communications without our

assistance,

g. Aerial Maps of Cuba

AMBANG-] informed me that the JURE membership
had brought out of Cuba an entire series of maps showing key roads,
bridges, industrial plants, et al, which they had copied by the Aero
Service Corporation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, AMBANG-1
stated that they had received most of these photos from the Aero
Service Corporation but that the 101 were still missing. He gave
me the numbers of those missing and asked if we could procure them.
Ihave since informed AMBANG-] that it would perhaps be best it
he could, or his organization, do this instead but that we would
pay the travel of one of his men, should this prove necessary,-
Attached, hereto, is a copy of the missing photos in question.

h, JURE Organization and Strength

AMBANG-1 informed me that the membership of the
JURE in San Juan was now at about 500 members andthat each
of these individuals makes a weekly contributionto the organization,

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In addition there are large JURE organizations in Caracas, Venezucla
and Dallas, Texas. There are according to AMBANG-! a total

of thirty delegations in Latin America, the U.S: A. and Europe.

He cited ae an example the delegation in San Francisco which had
recently purchased a typewriter through the collection of green
etamps. He added that Rogelio Cisneros had travelled to San
Francisco some time ago to communicate with that group and to
tighten its organizational activities,

i. AMBANG-1 Asks About ARTIME and the Activities _
in Central America

AMBANG-! raised the question of Manuel ARTIME's
activities in Central America and particularly in Nicaragua. He
stated that any association with Somoza would not help in creating
the mistique and political coloration necessary to inspire revolution
and resistance from the non-Communists elements in Cuba. Whereas,
J had expected AMBANG-! to go into a long harangue aa to the
positive damage that ARTIME's actions with Semoza could cause,
he left the matter at about this point. I agreed that the Somozas did not
have a Jiberal political reputation throughout Latin America, but
added that whatever Cubans ca: ld do from that or any vantage point
against Communism in Cuba would in my estimation be helpful, --
while Iam sure AMBANG-1! did not agree with me, he did not say
60, In respect to ARTIME and Miro Cardona, whose name entered
into the conversation later, AMBANG-} took a fairly objective view.
He stated that Miro had arrived in San Juan and that he wished him
the best aé he figured he had suffered enough. Insofar as ARTIME
was concerned I gathered that AMBANG-1 might feel that the associ-

_ ation with Somoza would not do ARTIME any good in a post-Castro

Cuba, As AMBANG-1 is convinced that a government after Castro
must be of a progressive liberal stripe, ARTIME was not doing
himeelf any good by identifying himself with the Sornozas,

j. A_List of Cuban Diplomats

As AMBANG-] had asked for a list of Cuban Diplo-
mats abroad while wewere in Paris, l advised him that such a list
had been prepared and we would make it available to him. In this
connection he asked if we could include the addresses of each of the
Cuban installations. Speaking of diplomats, AM BANG-! wanted to

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know if Ambassador Gustavo Arcos had returned from Prague.

1 informed him that I did not know, AMBANG-1 was most interested
to learn that Franqui's' wife and children had actually come out of
Cuba, and indicated that he would intensify his efforts to maintain
contact with Cuban Diplomat Cabrera Infante in Bruaaels as a
means toward the eventual recruitment of Franqul.

k, AMBANG-1 Relation with Jorge Volaky

In conjunction with questions regarding propaganda
sent to Cuba, and the JURE's genera} plans in this field, I asked
A-l about his relation with Jorge Volsky. A-1l stated that he con-
sidered Volsky to be an extremely able, serious newsapaperman.
He added that whereas he saw Voleky frequently on hio trips to
Miami, the latter did not work for him. A-] stated that Volsky's
work was a full-time job which left him little time to do anything

else,

A-) stated that JURE propaganda was produced by a twelve -
man board.

A-1 added that the JURE expected to shortly introduce a
statement on its position into Cuba.

1, AMBANG-] Asks about Two Man Underwater Craft

A-l asked if ] knew anything about a two man type
craft which travels through the water. I presume A-l was talking
about the "sea-sled."' IJ adviged him that I knew little about thig
type craft, but in my opinion its usefulness for the type activity
he had in mind was limited. AMBANG-1 would use this craft for
the final phase of an infiltration effort. A-} stated that this craft
was being used at the hotel beaches in San Juan as a type of aporting
activity, I will advise him that he could pursue this matter himeclf
ae all knowledge on this subject is publicly available. %

2

m. AMBANG-1 Trained in[simple Scorch System |

03

A WAVE technician, Culver Ladd] under the name

of Mr. Lane trained A-} to use a[timple scorch systemJof S/W. A-l
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was given some eighty pills with which he will be able to make
the "ink" used in this system of S/W. A-)] was pleased with the
oysters, ecpecsaily ate eampiicity. He will use tae system to

communicate with his chief delegate in Paris and undoubtedly
other persons in Cuba as well as in the other JURE delegations, |

n. AMBANG-1 is Writing an Articie for Cuadernos

At the request of German Arcienegas, the famed
Colombian intellectual, A-] is preparing an article which is to be
published in Cuadernos. The article will dea! with the problems
facing Latin America and how they can be resolved. A-1! will be in
select company as Arcienegas has asked a number of prominent
Latin American intellectuals for their views.

0. Communication Between AMBANG-I and Case

Officer

AMBANG-) gave me the following addresees at which
he can be reached:

Corporacion de Renovacicn
Urbana y Viviendas

_ PARADA 3)
Ponce de Leon,

Hato Rey ;
"Puerto Rico Telephone No. 723-1671

(NOTE: This is not: AMBANG's office or home, but-that of a
friend who is always able to reach A-}. )

Also: ,

Mr. Jaime Mitrani
1260 W. 61 Place
Hialeah, Florida

AMBANG- “1 was given the following means of
contacting me:

Mr. Alfred Fernandez
P.O. Box 1104, Main Post Office
Washington, D. C. Telephone No. 737-8294

AMBANG-! will use the name "Tony" as a signature in mail
to me, a

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2. General Observations
I beleive AMBANG-1 is planning to return to ‘Cuba.

He indicated that he would give the matter serious thought to
even go in, ‘disguised, as a legal traveller if that road were
generally open, i.e., if rather large numbers of travellers were
going in via PAA Nights. This line seemed a bit out of character
tor A-l, for it seems unrealistic and somewhat remindful of Macaulay's
references to the state of mind that exileadevelop, I also detected
what we consider to be a somewhat unrealistic appraisal of the Cuban
Situation in A-1l's estimate that Castro has coneiderably less than
40% of the Cuban people with hira. A-1 may be Josing more than a
little touch with Cuban reality,

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A-1 remains convinced that he ia on the right track in
working for the eventual overthrow of Castro. He is convinced,
however, that two to three years is all the time left for actually
destroying the Castro regime, belicving that there will be a favorable
turn in the Cuban economic situation by late 1965. A-l is likewise
convinced that Castro cannot add to the improvement of Cuba, to
the contrary that so Jong as the principal decisions are made by
Castro, the general trend will be confusion arising from a failure
to concentrate on specific problems until they are corrected.

ANBANG-1 is likewise convinced that the JURE is building
a political group and general outlook which will have an impact on
Cuba for many years to come. He is especially concerned with the
‘need to carefully consider cach position of his grow in order to
create the lasting impression that JURE knows where it is going
and that its leadership is composed of men who know how to "run"
a country without the false starts, confusion and chaos identified

with the Castro regime.

AMBANG-] is likewise greatly concerned with the necessity
of not creating an impression inside Cuba that the JURE will return
to mete out "justice," It ia essential, A-l states, to convince the
general populace that the overthrow of Castro will not result ina
dloodbath, rather.that the sole aim is to eave the revolution that -
has been betrayed. He is anxious that the people inside Cuba see

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the JURE as a responsible, intelligent and dispassionate group

which is capable of bringing to Cuba all that the revolution promised. f
. u : .
Alfonso Rodriguez
SAS/SO
Distribution:
1 - C/SAS oF
1 - SAS/ Bolten; Heckehers[Amori_{
1 - Chrono
1- RAY File
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